50 best summer red wines: Under £12

2007 Château Pey La Tour, Réserve du Château, Dourthe, Bordeaux Supérieur, France

The Wine Society, £9.95; Booths, £10.99 It pays to read the small print on labels. Two Pey La Tour wines are produced. This one, which is the cream of the crop, and a lesser but almost identical label without the words “réserve du château”. Situated in the heart of the Entre-deux-mers, Pey La Tour was bought by Dourthe, one of Bordeaux’s leading negociant, or merchant houses, with fingers in lots of different properties and pies, in 1990. Since then this merlot-led claret, topped up with a dash each of cabernet sauvignon and petit verdot, has had a complete overhaul in vineyard and cellar to product this superb, ripe, young, velvety, cedary new-barrel-aged claret.

2008 Santa Helena Gran Reserva Pinot Noir, Selección del Directorio, Casablanca Valley, Chile

Asda (larger stores only), £9.98 The Casablanca valley’s cooler Mediterranean climate suits the pinot noir grape and this juicy 2008 also benefited greatly from Chile’s cold spring that year before the summer picked up to bring with it long, hot, dry days. Any of you who feel that shelling out almost a tenner for a Chilean pinot is a waste of money needs to tuck in to this tasty, French oak-barrel-aged, 14 per cent alcohol red now and to savour its stunning sweet, silky, spicy, plum and creosote-laced fruit.

2009 Les Servières, Un Siècle de Cinsault, Vin de Pays de l’Hérault, Domaine d’Aupilhac, France

Caves de Pyrène, £11.99; Bacchus Wine, £10.99 The cinsault grape of southern France can and does make grand red wines in the right hands, such as Sylvain Fadat of celebrated Domaine d’Aupilhac. Cinsault was one of the French authorities’ approved “improving” varieties intended to give polished, perfumed fruit to dull southern French blends, not always successfully. Yet with yields kept low and treated seriously by growers such as Alain and Laure Robert, the results can be stunning — all sweet, creamy, herby, tannic fruit.

2007 Crozes-Hermitage, Domaine Collonge, Philippe & Vincent Jaboulet, France

Marks & Spencer, £10.99 Nothing to do with Paul Jaboulet Aîné, the famous old northern Rhône-based firm, newcomer Philippe Jaboulet and his son Vincent are in charge here. Like Saint Joseph, Crozes Hermitage, situated much farther south in the Rhône valley, is a large appellation producing good, bad and ugly wines, so it’s important to pick and choose. I was very impressed with this 2007, a much-fancied northern Rhône vintage whose elegant, ripe, spicy, savoury syrah style and beefy fruit is a good summer food red with the likes of red meats and strong cheeses.

2008 Givry Domaine des Moirots, Christophe Denizot, France

Howard Ripley, £11.46 If you want great value for money for white and red burgundy, home in on one of the lesser southern regions such as the Côte Chalonnaise, where this red comes from. Christophe Denizot makes wine like his father Lucien and grandfather Léon before him, slowly buying up vineyards so that the estate now consists of 13ha. Christophe bought the Domaine des Moirots parcel in l995, and 14 vintages later has produced a spicy, sandalwood and chocolate-charged, new-oak-aged red burgundy that is great with grilled red meats and mildly barbecued meats. Best under £12

2009 L’Arpenty Chinon, Francis et Françoise Desbourdes, France

Yapp Bros, £11.25 Tucking in to a cool, chilled glass of a young, red fruit-stacked Loire red, made from the cabernet franc grape, is one of the great joys of summer. Made exclusively from cabernet franc, this chinon, like the L’Hurluberlu, comes from one of the region’s small growers, not big merchants, so you get lots more fruit and flavour. In this case lots of delicious, velvety, verdant, violet and raspberry-scented fruit. Locals like drinking this with goat’s cheese.

2007 Domaine des Marechaudes, Bourgogne Pinot Noir, France

Oddbins, £10.99 Gorgeous lively, sweet, spicy, rose-scented and damson plum-packed red burgundy, almost the star red in this section. Any of you after a young, juicy, easy-swigging yet classy pinot noir from the grand 2007 vintage will have met their match with this hand-harvested, cold macerated and unoaked red made from mature 35-year-old vines grown on a large 60 ha estate. Miss this beautiful young pinot on Oddbins’ shelves and you will miss out.

2009 L’Hurluberlu St Nicolas de Bourgueil, Sébastien David, France

Caves de Pyrène, £11.95 Saint Nicolas de Bourgueil, bang next door to Bourgueil, is one of those forgotten Loire reds made entirely from the cabernet franc grape and, as such, perfect, chilled, for warm weather drinking — which is exactly what you would expect to do with this crystal-clear screw-capped bottle. I loved this young red’s precocious juicy, raspberry and redcurrant fruit complete with that wild, earthy, verdant finish that Loire reds often display. A good garlicky charcuterie red.

2005 Château Le Cedre d’Arthus, Bordeaux Supérieur, France

Private Cellar, down to £11.99 until July 30 for Times readers West of St Emilion en route to the sleepy quayside town of Libourne, a tiny estate produces the St Emilion Grand Cru Fleur d’Arthus and its second wine, Château Le Cedre d’Arthus. The latter is only designated a humble Bordeaux supérieur as its vines are outside the appellation. Who cares when this cabernet franc-dominated claret, topped up with cabernet sauvignon and merlot, is so good? Expect lots of terrific mature, gamey, leathery, sandalwood- scented, right-bank claret elegance from this dinky, tiny vineyard. Perfect with rare roast beef salads.

2007 Beaune Montée Rouge, Domaine Robert Gibourg, France

Majestic, £14.99 or buy two for £11.99 each until July 12 Beaune, along with those other easy-to- pronounce Burgundy villages of Volnay and Pommard, produce wines that are rarely great value for money — so snap up this superb sub-£12 red. Robert Gibourg’s domaine at Morey-St-Denis, at the northern end of the Côte de Nuits, is just 12.5ha and his practice of eschewing agro-chemicals and delivering lots of tender loving care in the cellar help to explain why this ripe, spicy, tangy, leafy, partly new-oak-aged red burgundy is so good.

2006 The Galvo Garage d’Arenberg, Australia

Majestic, £14.99 or buy two for £11.99 each until July 12; Fareham Wine, £13.99 A traditional bordeaux blend of both cabernets, merlot and petit verdot, grown in the McLaren Vale and Adelaide Hills regions of South Australia, is a claret-aping red that is essential drinking this summer. This 14.5 per cent red is fermented and aged in small, French and American, oak barriques by its fourth- generation winemaker, Chester d’Arenberg Osborn. Partner this gorgeous, fat, gamey, spicy, cedar and creosote-stacked red with barbecued red meats.